Socket for thermionic tubes



July 11, 1950 F. s. STICKNEY SOCKET FOR THERMIONIC TUBES Filed March 14, 1946 FIG. 2

FIG. I

FIG, 4

INVENTOR. FERNALD s. STICKNEY BY 2i Patented July 11, 1950 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE f Application March 14, 1946, Serial No. 654,277

3 Claims.

This invention relates to sockets for supporting and making electrical connections with the elements of thermionic tubes of different types .known in the present day trade as the Octal, .Loctal and Miniature.

tubes have terminal pin diameters of .094, .050

These different types of and .040 respectively. While these particular types having the pin sizes mentioned may be accommodated in the socket to be described, other types of tubes with difierent size pins may be used with my new and improved socket.

which will provide strongan'd' dependable gripping force on the pin terminals of the tube during the life of the socket.

Another object of my invention is to provide the means for automatically locking the pin contact member into the insulator of suitable .material upon insertion of the contact member into its aperture in the insulator.

A further object of my invention is to provide a contact member for the socket which will withstand high operating temperatures without loss of gripping force on the tube pin terminals. A still further object of my invention is to provide contact members for the socket which can be made from a high-strength, heat resistins, heat treatable alloy such as beryllium cop per, so the orifice or bell mouth portion of the contact member can be formed while the metal is in a soft condition and whereby adequate spring properties can be developed by subsequent hardening.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a socket having contact members so designed that the terminal connecting end can be bent outwardly away from the axis of the socket with out damage to the contact member.

Other advantages will be discerned from the following specification taken in connection with the annexed drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the top of plug-in Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a view right to left.

Figure 6 is a side view of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a top plan view of Figure 6.

The foregoing figures are made approximately twice the size of a working model of"Octal size.

In the various views wherein like numbers refer to corresponding parts, I is an insulator of any suitable insulating material which can be moulded. Figure 1 shows an insulator of the Octal type, there being apertures in the insulator for eight contact members. These apertures 2 are generally D shaped wherein the opposite walls 3 and 4 extendsubstantially at right angles to the side 5. The side walls 3 and 4 of each aperture are each provided with a boss 6. The bosses 5 act as seats for the bent over end or short arm I of a spring contact member 0 having a long arm 8. The arm 1 has the metal formed downwardly therein as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6 to form a receptacle 9 for one of the pins of the tube to be positioned therein. The receptacle 9 has a formation somewhat like the mouth of a bell which acts to guide the terminal pin of the of Figure 6 looking from vacuum tube and to grip it securely. This gripping action is controlled by reason of the fact that the arm l is split along the line It! back into a small hole II in the long arm 8. This will allow the two parts in l to be spread sufiiciently to allow the tube pin to enter the receptacle 9. By providing two small bosses 6 to contact with the spreadable portions of the end 1 close to the long end fi, or as far from the receptacle 9 as possible, I am enabled to get a smooth and efiicient action between the receptacle and the tube pin. This is accomplished by fulfillment of two requirements: First, the contact must be supported at points located as far as possible from the bell mouth, these points having a minimum amount of motion during insertion of the pin. Secondly, the contact must be supported at points which are perpendicular to the axis of the terminal pin of the tube, to prevent wedging. Support of the contact from any part near the bell mouth is unsatisfactory, as it causes wedging. Hence the reason for the small seats formed by the bosses positioned as shown and described. Furthermore, the bosses have slanting and rounded ends l2 so as not to interfere with the spreading of the parts of the end I and to permit moulding.

The long end 8 of the contact member has a finger l3 pressed therefrom to engage an annular shoulder I4 which is positioned adjacent the inner end of the apertures 2. When this contact member is inserted in place in its receptacle it is automatically locked in operative position as indicated in Figures 1 and 4.

Between the finger l3 and the end extremity of the long end 8, the material of the contact member is reduced in cross-section to form a relatively narrow neck IS the purpose of which is so that the terminal extremity l6 of the contact member may be bent as indicated by the broken line I! in Figure 4 without disturbing the engagement of the fingers l3 with the shoulder M. The extremity !6 of the contact member is provided with means such as holes l8 and I9 for attaching, as by means of soldering, electrical conductors thereto. The insulator l is provided with a circular flange 20 so as to cooperate with the neck in such a way as to prevent bending of the long end 8 other than at the neck portion IS.

The insulator I may have moulded integral therewith projections for mounting it in operative position or suitable clips 2! may be moulded in the insulator as indicated in Figures 3 and 4 for mounting purposes. Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A socket for thermionic tubes comprising, an insulator of suitable insulating material having a plug in top and a bottom having an annular recess therein, a plurality of arcuately positioned plug in apertures extending from the top into said recess, each aperture having oppositely disposed bosses that have rounded and inwardly slanting ends forming seats for spring contact members, an internally positioned shoulder adjacent the inner end of each aperture where it enters said annular recess, spring contact members for fitting in said apertures, each contact member having two arms one long and one short, at right angles to each other, the short arm being centrally slitted along its length and having a bell shaped mouth opening therein spaced inwardly from the end of the arm to receive a tube terminal pin and make contact therewith over the greater part of a circumferential section of the pin, the portions of said short arm adjacent said mouth opening being adapted to engage said boss seats in its aperture, while the long arm has at least a locking finger projecting therefrom to engage its aperture shoulder to lock the spring contact members in place, the extremity of the long arm having means for attaching a conductor thereto.

2. A socket for thermionic tubes comprising an insulator of suitable insulating material having a plug in top and a bottom with a circular bore therein and a plurality of apertures extending from the top into said bore, the bore having a diameter which extends a little beyond the outer edges of said apertures thereby forming an annular inner shoulder, spring contact members for fitting in said apertures, each contact member having a short bentover end and a long end having an off set locking finger therein to em gage said shoulder, the short end having a bell shaped plug-in receptacle therein with the small end of the receptacle pointing in the direction of the said long end, said short end being split midway of its length through the receptacle, each aperture having oppositely disposed bosses forming seats for the edges only of the short arm at points spaced away from the upper part of the opening into the bell, the extremity of the long end having an easily bendable portion with means for attaching an electrical conductor thereto.

3. A socket for thermionic tubes comprising an insulator of suitable insulating material having a plug in top with a plurality of apertures extending from the top downwardly therethrough, each aperture being generally D-shaped and having a pair of oppositely positioned small bosses located close to the straight edge of the D, the upper ends of the bosses being rounded and slanted toward the center of the insulator, each aperture having a shoulder located at the outer boundary of the aperture adjacent the lower part of said bosses, spring contact members for fitting in said apertures, each contact member having a short arm and a long arm, the short arm having a bell mouth type of plug in receptacle formed therein with the small end of the bell pointing in the direction of the long arm, the short arm being centrally split preferably all the way back to the long arm and having parts spaced from its receptacle to engage the rounded and slanting ends of said bosses, the long arm having an ofi set locking finger to engage said shoulder and means .for attaching an electrical conductor to the end of said contact member.

FERNALD S. STICKNEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of 7 this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS- Number Name Date Re. 20,162 Draving Nov. 10, 1936 2,102,383 Sanford Dec. 14, 1937 2,120,396 Domaleski June 14, 1938 2,206,798 Woods July 2, 1940 2,206,799 Barton July 2, 1940 2,259,740 Del Camp Oct. 21, 1941 2,275,484 Alden Mar. 10, 1942 2,376,625 Schmitt May 22, 1945 

